By Tugume Muzafaru senior news Reporter Rubirizi District.
Uganda has established a new national coffee coordination body, Uganda Coffee Group Ltd, bringing together 25 pioneer companies to oversee and strengthen the country’s coffee value chain, covering production, post-harvest handling, value addition, aggregation and marketing.
The newly established group is expected to coordinate activities across the coffee sector, with the aim of improving production systems, strengthening market access and ensuring that farmers benefit directly from value addition. Its operations are guided by the Uganda Coffee Group Ltd Order of Business Index 2027, themed “From Green Bean to Global Value.”
Under the 2027 index, the 25 pioneer companies have been organised into five major pillars, namely Village Agribusiness Societies, Nucleus Farms, Coffee Nurseries, Co-operative Societies and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), each assigned responsibilities within the wider coffee production and marketing framework.
The Village Agribusiness Societies pillar brings together Kyaggwe County Multi Co-op, Capital Solutions Ltd, Funzo Coffee, Land Management Resource Centre and RIPA Prime Ventures. The Nucleus Farms pillar includes Operation Wealth Creation, Artemis Africa Ventures, Uganda Coffee Company, Uganda Coffee Federation and Agroclass Ventures.
The Coffee Nurseries pillar comprises the National Coffee & Cocoa Seed Association, Agile Biosystems, Uganda Agric Insurance Scheme, Alna Dev Consult and Masereje & Co Advocates. Meanwhile, the Co-operative Societies pillar includes Padyere County Co-op Union, Sao Zirobwe-SACCO, Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance, Gwalimutala Estates Ltd and Srkibuuka Mixed Farm.
The fifth pillar, Small and Medium Enterprises, brings together the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness Entities, Flobeth Ltd, Africa Resource Market Ltd, Industrial Coffee Growers and Ekyazi Farm. The five pillars are expected to work together to strengthen technical, environmental, financial and market support systems across the coffee industry.
Meanwhile, Rural Initiative for Poverty Alleviation (RIPA) has been selected to spearhead the creation of a Coffee Bond aimed at mobilising funds for the acquisition of irrigation systems for nucleus farms across Uganda. The initiative is intended to support the Uganda Coffee Resilience Project 2027, particularly efforts to strengthen coffee production through improved irrigation infrastructure.
Speaking about RIPA’s responsibilities, its Executive Director, Mr Tumusiime Vincent Bamugaya, said the organisation had been assigned several strategic roles within the new coffee framework, positioning it to contribute to financing, agricultural insurance and the development of sustainable support systems for coffee farmers.
Among its key assignments, RIPA will facilitate agricultural insurance for coffee nursery operators to protect them against natural calamities, while supporting the subsidised supply of seedlings to farmers affected by such challenges. The organisation will also promote the conversion of nucleus farms into coffee hubs, or vice versa, to facilitate the transfer of financial benefits generated through value addition to allied farmer networks and village agribusiness societies.
Additionally, RIPA is expected to provide concessionary loans to social impact funds, SACCOs and other financial institutions for onward lending to farmer societies, associations and coffee SMEs. These interventions are intended to improve access to affordable financing and strengthen the capacity of different players within the coffee value chain.
The Uganda Coffee Group Ltd framework is expected to bring together farmers, agribusiness societies, financial institutions, nursery operators, co-operatives and private enterprises under a coordinated approach to coffee development. Through the five pillars, the initiative seeks to strengthen Uganda’s coffee industry, expand value addition and improve the participation of farmers in the benefits generated from the sector.
With the 2027 agenda centred on moving coffee from green bean production to global value, the involvement of the 25 pioneer companies, including RIPA, is expected to support efforts towards improved production, irrigation, financing, aggregation and access to wider markets.
